16.7.08

Having looked more into the beginning of writing, I found that in large, the basic knowledge of the roots of writing, have not changed.This was till I saw a documentary about a place named Aratta, which is being unearthed by archaeologists in the high mountains of today’s north Iran - south east to what was Sumer in Mesopotamia (today’s Iraq).

For generations Aratta was thought of as only a myth, an epic Mesopotamian tale. Today Aratta has become a reality; where excavations reveal a very healthy and rich kingdom that apparently had an alphabetic writing system already in 2500BC!

As this new information is still in its infancy, I will return to the common data, which is very fascinating indeed.So here we go -

Pictorial writing, which the Chinese and Japanese still use, is very difficult to learn and use.
The old Coniform and hieroglyphics were even more difficult to handle, as their transportation from place to place was too cumbersome; for recording movements of goods, commerce; and contracts among nations. The need to simplify brought about the alphabetical system, where few letters can be used in different combinations, to mean different words, and are easily learnt, used and transported.

The alphabetical system started in Canaan (more or less today’s Israel, Lebanon & the Sinai), by the Semitic people who lived there. Tradition puts the Phoenician as the first to start this system, followed by the Hebrews. Both were part of Canaan and both languages were very similar.

As everything else, the alphabetical system went through trial and errors till it settled with 22 letters.These were, in the progress of time, changed, added to or replaced, to accommodate for the sounds the various tongues have.

At the beginning all letters followed one another.There were no spaces between the words, or any identifying marks for the beginning or end of sentences.This makes a lot of sense in my opinion as it followed the manner of speech. If you pay attention to the way we speak, you will find that we do speak in a running fashion.

When writing began, it was written to all direction: right to left; left to right; up and down and even at one stage; back and forth with the eye movement. Even though it shortened the time needed for the eyes to return to the beginning of the line to start reading the next, it was probably dropped because of the need to learn writing in both directions.
At the end it has settled to be written and read from right to left. Surprise?
You should be. We do take our way of writing for granted, don’t we?

The truth of the matter is that all alphabetical writing, in whatever form and shape developed from this one corner of the world, and Semitic writing was already found in Egypt next to Egyptian Hieroglyphics, dated to around 1900BC.

By what I understand, the pictorial Hieroglyphic as well as Cuneiform were the base point from where the alphabetical system started. It took the schematic drawing of an object, simplified it and used it as a symbol of the first sound of the displayed object’s name. For example, and just to clarify,
Take the word ‘Door’. Draw a schematic door. Name it – D.Now you have a letter that depicts the ‘D’ sound.Now, you can place it anywhere where the written word needs that sound – Drive, said, riddle and so on… Ingenious, isn’t it?

Following the same line of reasoning, the written words had no vowels or any other means of identifying that vowels give.In reality one can read words without vowels, as readers of Hebrew and Arabic, as well as some users of emails and SMS will attest.

The vowels are a Greek invention.They developed through changing the use of some existing letters and by addition of some new ones.The Greeks were also those who changed the direction of writing to go from left to right.

As I wrote before, all alphabetical forms of writing developed from the Semitic writing; be it the Latin, which we use, the Greek, or the Russian forms of writings, and even the various Asiatic ones.

Like everything else, writing had to develop, and evolve, to meet the changes in society and specific needs of every tongue. It also had to change; according to the logic of each group of people, Looking at those changes one can hardly believe that all alphabetical systems have come from the one same root.
Today, Hebrew and Arabic are still written and read from right to left. So when I write or read Hebrew, I go from right to left and reverse the order when in English, \

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About Me

My parents left Germany in 1933 when I was 2. I grew up in the than Palestine, in the countryside, in Tel-Aviv during WWII, and in a kibbutz high school.
Like others of my generation, I lived in a world that aspired to create a Jewish state within the borders of old Israel; and thus, I was a member of a youth movement and of the Jewish youth underground.
During Israel's War of independence I was responsible for my brigade's medical supplies, served on ambulances, and in the field hospital of the Negev front. After the war I was stationed in a demilitarised Border post at the foot of the Golan Heights.
In 1953, graduating a military nursing school, I got married, and worked with immigrants from Bagdad.
Due to economic necessity my husband and I immigrated to Australia in 1956, where we opened our own small hospital.
After studying in the USA in the 1960's we opened a chiropractic clinic in WA where I worked as a Clinics' administrator and a chiropractic radiologist.
I learnt to fly and took part in building a 64ft boat.
Nowadays, I write, paint & use the computer. I like walking, swimming & canoeing.

Israel"s achievements

Having to be on alert at all times and in fighting mode, did not and does not stop the Israelis from living a ‘Normal life’ and achieving great things.The land that was desert and swamps full of illnesses like Malaria & Trachoma and more is today a modern green place, full of trees and flowers.Not only that but it is also a power place to many new inventions that benefit mankind every day.I am attaching a list I received sometime ago, which is NOT complete, to show you some of Israel’s achievements.

Here it is:

Israel, the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population, can lay additional claim to the following:

The cell phone and Voice mail technology was developed in Israel & AOL Instant Messenger ICQ was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.

Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel.

The Pentium MMX Chip technology, Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel.

The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in Israel.

Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel & Motorola has Motorola Israel.

Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita, as well as the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world & produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin - 109 per 10,000 people - as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.

Israel designed the airline industry's most impenetrable flight security. US officials now look (finally) to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats, and has the fourth largest Air Force in the world (after the U.S., Russia and China).

In addition to a large variety of other aircraft, Israel's air force has an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16's. This is the largest fleet of F-16 aircraft outside of the U. S.In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in theworld, except the U.S. (3,500 – 4000 companies mostly in hi-tech).

With more than 4,000 high-tech companies and startups, Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world - apart from the Silicon Valley, U. S.

Outside the United States and Canada, it has the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies.

On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech startups.It is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the U.S.

Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East.The per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.

Her $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbours combined.

Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.

Twenty-four per cent of Israel's workforce holds university degrees, ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees.

Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity (Hundreds of thousands from the former Soviet Union).

In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews (Operation Solomon) at risk in Ethiopia, to safety inIsrael.

When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she became the world's second elected female leader in modern times.

When the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, was bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day - and saved three victims from the rubble.

Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship - and the highest rate among women and among people over 55 - in the world.

It has more museums per capita than any other country, and has the world's second highest per capita of new books.

Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as"conflict free."

It is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.

In Medicine... Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment. Every year in U.S. hospitals, 7,000 patients die from treatment mistakes.

Israel's Givun Imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill. Used to view the small intestine from the inside, cancer and digestive disorders.

Researchers in Israel developed a new device that directly helps the heart pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with heart failure. The new device is synchronized with the camera, helps doctors diagnose heart's mechanical operations through a sophisticated system of sensors.

Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U.S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions, Israel places first in this category as well.

Israel produced 4 Nobel price winners in the last 4 years – 2 in Mathematics & 2 in Economics.

An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale solar-powered and fully functional electricity generating plant, in southern California's Mojave Desert.

All the above while engaged in regular wars with an implacable enemy that seeks its destruction, and an economy continuously under strain by having to spend more per capita on its own protection than any other county on earth.